LibGuides: Ethanol and the Fire Service: Preparing for Ethanol Emergencies

Quick Guides

NRT Quick Reference Guide: Fuel Grade Ethanol Spills
RFA Page on E15 News
PHMSA Guide to Shipping Label IDs
Does not include E15--see above guide.
DOT Emergency Response Guide 127--Flammable Liquids (Polar/Water-miscible)
Includes ethanol, as it is a polar/water-miscible flammable liquid.

ETANKFIRE Project

Research by the SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden investigating ethanol tank fires

Combustible Dust

Firefighting Precautions at Facilities with Combustible Dust
OSHA Document includes planning and response considerations.
Protecting Ethanol Plants from Catastrophic Combustible Dust Explosions
Ethanol Producer Magazine article suggests ways industry can prevent dust explosions.

Ethanol Emergency Response Coalition

The Ethanol Emergency Response Coalition includes partners in industry and the fire service and is dedicated to providing the knowledge first responders need to respond to ethanol incidents. Very helpful website for fire service personnel who want to learn more about hazards of ethanol and how the fire service should prepare for ethanol emergencies.

Resources Page includes numerous helpful links, including videos on ethanol response (which feature the tests of different foams); a complete Training Guide to Ethanol Emergency Response broken into 8 modules; and a Training Toolbox that includes several reports on different aspects of ethanol safety. You can expand the the different sections on the page above to find materials for each separate module.

The videos and training guide are also available at the IFSI Library. The videos and training guide are part of the Ethanol Response Considerations DVD and CD-ROM. The training guide alone is part of the Responding to Ethanol Incidents and Ethanol Fixed Facilities Assessment and Guide CD-ROM.

These are links to the IFSI library catalog; to request the item from the library, click on "Add to Request Bin" and fill out the request form. Note that the same items appear in the Library Resources box on this guide's homepage.

Community Planning Documents

Ethanol Incident Planning Template--Masschusetts
Template to help emergency planners prepare ethanol response plan for their municipalities. Includes basic information about ethanol industry and transportation. Produced by the state of Massachusetts, but could be adapted for any state.
Ethanol and the Illinois Fire Service
IFSI document covers the basics of ethanol production and transportation and gives practical recommendations for how fire departments can prepare for ethanol incidents in their communities.
Ethanol & Alternative Fuels--The Public Safety Questions
IFSI Document lists questions firefighters should ask about ethanol plants in their communities and implications for planning their response.
Reports on the safety impacts of ethanol transportation by rail
Report by Massachusetts Department of Transportation analyzes safety impacts of a proposed ethanol transport line on the surrounding communities. Illustrates some of the challenges of ethanol transport and could be a model for other states/communities.

Ethanol plant in West Burlington, Iowa

Articles and short reports

Biofuels May Be Green, But Color the Risk Yellow
Article from the October 2010 issue of Fire Apparatus discusses ethanol's increasingly widespread use and how it remains a challenge for first responders.
Public Safety and Transporting Ethanol
Opinion piece by Richard Jaehne, former director of IFSI, published in June 2008 in the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. Jaehne summarizes the risks associated with ethanol production, transport, and distribution and suggests safety measures to be implemented.
ETANKFIRE: Experimental results of large ethanol fuel pool fires
By SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden. See ETANKFIRE box in left column for more information about this project.

Response Guides

These more lengthy reports provide detailed considerations for ethanol response.

IAFC--Responding to Ethanol Incidents
This valuable report by the International Association of Fire Chiefs describes properties, transport, and storage of ethanol and ethanol-blended fuels, how to fight ethanol fires with foam, and how to respond to ethanol emergencies. This report is especially important because it is prepared by and for firefighters.

This guide is also available on DVD at the IFSI Library. This is a link to the IFSI library catalog; to request the item from the library, click on "Add to Request Bin" and fill out the request form. Note that the same link appears in the Library Resources box on this guide's homepage.
IAFC--Ethanol Fixed Facilities: Assessment and Guide
This is an assessment tool intended to help firefighters determine the safety and emergency response capability of an ethanol manufacturing facility. It also helps fire departments assess their ability to respond to an incident at an ethanol manufacturing facility. It also describes the ethanol manufacturing process and includes some photographs and diagrams showing how an ethanol plant is set up.

This guide is also available on CD-ROM at the IFSI Library. This is a link to the IFSI library catalog; to request the item from the library, click on "Add to Request Bin" and fill out the request form. Note that the same link appears in the Library Resources box on this guide's homepage.
U.S. Dept of Transportation--2016 Emergency Response Guidebook
This guidebook is intended for first responders to transportation incidents involving hazardous materials. It focuses on hazardous materials in general and includes information about identifying materials and transportation vehicles. Guide 127 (p. 192-193) gives specific ethanol response procedures. To see just those two pages, click on the link to "DOT Emergency Response Guide 127" in the Quick Guides box in the upper left portion of the page.

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Ethanol Emergency Response by the Industry

OSHA--Green Job Hazards: Biofuels
Describes hazards faced by ethanol plant employees and applicable OSHA standards. Includes 4 incident reports involving fire.
Teamsters' Safety and Health Facts--Ethanol Transport
Basic information about ethanol, dangers faced by those who transport it, and proper markings for ethanol shipments.